Hints From Heloise

Dear Heloise: Our best-kept secret is how we’ve “recycled” used coloring books. My daughter was an avid colorer during her preschool and early elementary school years, and we accumulated a large stack of completed coloring books.

In her later elementary school years she was assigned numerous school projects, especially book reports, which had an artistic component. We would search through the coloring books and pick out pictures to match the theme (i.e. an Indian, horse, astronaut, bus, etc.).

She would either use the picture as a starting point to make a freehand drawing or model, or trace the picture and paint or color it, or cut the picture into sections to use as patterns on poster board. This hint could benefit other children who are not naturally gifted artists. - Pat Newmann, Moorpark, Calif.